


Talk You Down

by stardropdream



Category: Gate 7
Genre: Denial of Feelings, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 12:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardropdream/pseuds/stardropdream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Women found Sakura attractive.  And that realization was something of a shock to Tachibana’s system because, what the fuck, it was <i>Sakura</i> of all people.  Personally, he had no idea what the hell anyone could see in the big idiot but Tachibana also wasn’t foolish enough to think that attraction ever had to make logical sense.  It just didn’t.  It especially didn’t make sense if it was <i>Sakura</i> who people were attracted to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talk You Down

It was something that Tachibana never really considered, because, well, he had his own important things to think about and the last thing he needed to worry about was what Sakura did on his Own Time, especially because the things he Did were stupid or gross or perverted or something that he really didn’t need to give a shit about. It was something he ignored until, one day, sitting in the noodle shop with that stupid freeloader making stupid faces at Hana, who admittedly was incredibly adorable so who wouldn’t want to look at her and smile like that except the fucking freeloader needed to stop that _right this instant_ , it hit him like a bombshell. 

Women found Sakura attractive. And that realization was something of a shock to Tachibana’s system because, what the fuck, it was _Sakura_ of all people. Personally, he had no idea what the hell anyone could see in the big idiot but Tachibana also wasn’t foolish enough to think that attraction ever had to make logical sense. It just didn’t. It especially didn’t make sense if it was _Sakura_ who people were attracted to. 

It was the look in the server’s face that made him realize, as she came over to set down the fifth bowl of ramen for Hana, who was devouring the noodles at a gloriously quick rate – although Tachibana was used to that (the stupid freeloader was still making impressed noises of concern like a fucking idiot, though). But the waitress leaned over slowly, and she batted her eyes at Sakura like he was something special and Sakura, that bastard, was smiling back at her with that soft smile that actually reached his eyes and he was saying something to her that Tachibana didn’t quite catch and the girl was giggling. 

Stupid.

Stupid as hell. 

It was plain as day and unmistakable. She stared openly at Sakura and the idiot smiled that stupid, sweet smile of his that almost looked like the ones he gave to Hana or that damn freeloader but not quite (which was a good thing because if it was the same kind of smile, Tachibana would have to have very serious words with Sakura). 

Tachibana watched her carefully, frowning at the clearly smitten young woman. When she finally pulled away from the table – about damn time, that position wasn’t fooling anyone with that low-cut shirt of hers – her hand lingered on his shoulder, for one brief moment, like it was an accident but it was plain as the goddamn day that it was purposeful. Tachibana felt his mood darken. At least be _subtle_ about it, he thought. It was an obscene amount of time to have a hand on Sakura’s stupid, broad shoulder. The idiot probably didn’t even realize. 

The waitress walked away and Tachibana breathed out, figuring that had to be the last of it. Sakura was an idiot who liked pretty women but at least he was never obscene about it – until he was behind closed doors, at least. He assumed. Not that he actually knew. He just figured. And even then, that was because he was a pervert, but it was also necessary for the guy to get sleep. Tachibana couldn’t exactly begrudge the idiot for wanting sleep, although it pissed him off that the guy could go without sleep and still be so fucking cheerful in the morning. 

Was Sakura watching her leave? Oh god, he was, and he was still smiling, his eyes lingering on her back and sweeping down appreciatively. How obnoxious. Tachibana felt a swell of frustration rise in his gut. It was one thing to do these things in the privacy of his own perverted room, but another thing entirely to do something so obscene in front of Hana of all people. Hell, even the freeloader was sitting _right there._ Would it kill Sakura to have some self-respect and some control? Clearly. 

Tachibana crossed his arms, feeling moody on behalf of Hana and the freeloader, the latter of whom could stand to be more appreciative of his concern. And he felt concern for the waitress, too. What could Sakura be thinking? It was all fine and good to do these things with geisha women, but another thing entirely to seduce innocent women, especially innocent women who still looked fresh out of high school. Sakura would put on the charm, get what he wanted, and a goodnight’s sleep, and that would be that and the poor noodle girl would be heartbroken and they could never come back here and that would just make Hana unhappy and if there was one thing Tachibana could not abide, it was making Hana unhappy. 

He scowled more. 

“Your face will get stuck like that,” Sakura said, his eyes finally away from the girl and focused on Tachibana instead, his chin resting in his hand as he leaned against the table. He pushed his bowl of ramen towards Hana when he noticed Hana’s was getting low. 

“Shut up,” Tachibana muttered and glared some more, just to be petulant – he could glare as much as he wanted and his face would be _fine._

He eyed Hana for a moment, expression softening for her concern. Not that being unwelcomed in a noodle shop would stop her, but he was just looking out for her. He snapped his attention back to Sakura and glared some more. 

“You need to go to the store before it closes and buy all the things we need.” He said it as concretely and commanding as possible, knowing that Sakura was such a pushover that he'd do whatever he said, no matter the tone. Being authoritative just reminded him of who was in charge. He added, for good measure, “I want more tea.” 

“There’s still a few hours left before the store closes,” Sakura started to say.

Tachibana continued to glare. “Go now. You know Hana’ll stay here for a while longer.” He glanced over at the freeloader. “Take that guy with you, too.”

The freeloader started to protest that he could go on his own, but a dark look from Tachibana silenced him.

Sakura, for his part, only laughed and rolled his eyes. “Come on, Chika-chan.”

He stood up easily and leaned down, patting Hana on the head in parting as he waited for the freeloader to scurry out from his seat. He smiled at Tachibana again, expression warm (which only served to piss Tachibana off more because why the fuck was he always so happy), before he and the freeloader exited the store together.

Good thing, too, because the waitress arrived to ask if they needed anything else and seemed disappointed to see Sakura missing. Good. He’d protected her, and, more importantly, Hana, from certain doom. 

She was watching Sakura leave, looking a bit disappointed. Tachibana felt his lip twitch in irritation as he watched Sakura and the damn freeloader leave, glaring after their retreating backs. 

“Sir?” she asked Tachibana then and Tachibana snapped back to attention, schooling his face into a less murderous expression and looking up at her, figuring she was going to ask if he needed anything else. He’d place another order for noodles since Hana didn’t seem to be slowing down. 

“Another round of noodles,” he said with a sigh. She nodded, her eyes flickering towards the door where Sakura and the freeloader had exited. Tachibana narrowed his eyes. 

“For just the two of you?” she asked, pleasant and professional. “Or will your friends be returning?”

Tachibana scoffed. “They aren’t my friends.” He narrowed his eyes and spoke before she could correct herself or ask stupid questions. “But, they won’t be back.”

“I see,” she said, and he hated that she sounded disappointed. 

He sat there for one moment and then said, “He pays women to sleep with them.”

She stared at him, alarmed, her eyes wide. Tachibana frowned to himself, immediately uncomfortable. He hadn’t quite meant to say that, but he wasn’t about to take it back. Better the girl knew now and got over it, before she got her hopes up and got her heart crushed in the process. Or was used. 

She excused herself and hurried away. When he glanced at Hana, she was watching him, looking thoughtful. 

“Tachibana?” she asked. 

“She’ll bring you more noodles,” he muttered and knew it wasn’t what she was going to ask, but he really didn't have an answer for the other question she didn't pose. 

 

\---

 

The next time it happened, it was in the grocery store. Tachibana was there today because he didn't trust Sakura to get everything that was needed even though Sakura had never forgotten anything ever. Once Tachibana wrote out the list, Sakura would get it all, and then some since Tachibana didn't know the first thing about cooking. But he claimed needing to check to make sure he was going to get the right tea, and Sakura only shrugged and let him come along. Like hell the jackass was going to say no, anyway. 

Anyway, they were in the store. And Sakura was wearing that stupid shirt that was a little too big even for him - which was saying something because the guy might as well be a huge, stupid giant with stupid, broad shoulders - and the collar was cut wide from his neck, so when he moved, a good portion of his shoulder was revealed. It was loose on the top like that - probably purposefully, Tachibana thought darkly - but then was stupid tight over his stomach. When he reached up to grab food off the top shelves of the supermarket, it rode up a little, revealing the barest sliver of skin, just the glimmer of his waist and the jut of his hipbone sinking down into his jeans. And every time it happened, Tachibana could hear the hushed giggle of women in the aisle. 

For fuck's sake. 

Tachibana glared daggers at Sakura who, at this point, was so used to Tachibana's moods that he hardly seemed to react. Tachibana was starting to seriously wonder if everyone around them was losing their minds. He'd accepted that women found Sakura attractive - _somehow_ \- but it was disturbing to see even the occasional man give Sakura a once-over, or glance back over their shoulders as they passed by. It was like a bunch of vultures circling around their next meal. 

And Sakura was either totally oblivious to the effect he was having on people... or purposefully manipulating his shirt to keep riding up. Tachibana stepped forward, yanking the fabric down. Sakura looked at him, eyebrows raised and smiling that stupid smile of his, and Tachibana just glared at him.

“People are staring.”

“They're checking you out,” Sakura said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He tossed the food he'd grabbed into their basket and Tachibana continued to glare. “You're wearing that jacket. It always makes you look good.”

Tachibana stared at him, flabbergasted, as Sakura continued his walk down the aisle, smiling benignly to himself - _like a fucking idiot_ \- and grabbing more of their necessary ingredients. Tachibana stomped after him. 

“I am no— would you shut the hell up, you bastard?”

Sakura shrugged and continued on his way. 

Tachibana did his very best not to just glare at the women who kept glancing at Sakura. They must be really damn desperate if they were willing to pay attention to someone like Sakura. Even if he had that probably very distracting shirt on, purposefully. Tachibana glowered. Sakura was probably trying to pick up women right that very moment - he was shameless enough for such bullshit. 

Tachibana muttered something about getting the new tea and stomped away from Sakura, disgusted by this blatant display of perversion. Honestly. Sakura had to learn to keep it in his pants already. 

He found the tea easily, of course - he wasn't about to change up his routine and not when Sakura had finally learned how to brew this particular blend just the way he liked. With time to kill, he wandered down the aisles, trying to remember what it was that Sakura would need for the hotpot he was making tonight. But such things escaped him, anyway, and even though Sakura should grovel with joy over having his help, Tachibana figured the dumbass would just smile and tease him like he _always_ did. 

He returned to the aisle Sakura was in, tossed the tea at him, and told him to meet him by the front, at the register. He was sick of walking. Once seated, he regarded Sakura with suspicion, whenever he caught sight of him - and the hoards of women, and some men, who passed and gave him the once-over. 

Was everyone going crazy? He didn't get it. Sakura wasn't doing anything different from normal. He still wore his hair in that completely ridiculous way of his. His pants were still stupidly tight - honestly how did he manage to get out of those things, Tachibana would never know. He still smiled that same idiotic smile. That didn't explain why so many people were looking at Sakura with interest. He was such an uninteresting person at the end of the day, after all. Just a stupid, perverted, smiley imbecile. 

Tachibana sighed, absolutely lost and unable to comprehend. Clearly they found him attractive _somehow._ Hell, maybe they thought he was nice. Fuck, maybe they _liked_ Sakura! He could stoically, begrudgingly accept that people could find Sakura attractive - but to actually _like_ him? 

Oh god. What if that was it? Tachibana squirmed at his spot on the wall, his stomach churning at the very thought. What if they did like him? What if Sakura reciprocated their interest? What if that was why he was wearing that stupid shirt, smiling that stupid smile? What if he was having affairs with every single one of them? What was to say that he went back to the same geisha woman every night he went to get some sleep? 

Holy shit, Sakura. How many broken hearts would he leave behind before his dick was satisfied? Honestly. Tachibana was horrified on all their behalf. Irresponsible bastard! 

He came to this market a lot. Tachibana should have realized sooner. The bastard would take any opportunity to flirt, after all, those smiles supposedly charming to anyone without full brain capacity. Shit! He should have realized sooner. 

Clearly it was concern for all these poor, misguided women (and some men) that motivated him to abandon his spot near the front of the store. Sakura was busy speaking with the attendant behind the meat counter, so Tachibana wandered around, letting himself pass by the current group of girls who were blatantly checking Sakura out when he bent over a little to set his basket of ingredients on the floor near his feet. Honestly! Sakura had to be doing that on purpose, Tachibana thought, as he glared unsuccessfully at Sakura's ass. Bastard wearing those tight jeans! He should know better. 

One of the women caught sight of Tachibana, seeming to recognize him, and elbowed her friend. They both gave him a look and he pretended to study the pre-packaged steamed buns with the utmost scrutiny and critical eye. 

“Excuse me,” one slightly timid voice said, which was surprising that the voice seemed so small - considering that it was rather bold to approach a stranger just like that.

Tachibana looked up, making sure his face was perfectly neutral before he said, “What?” 

The first girl who spoke blushed and looked away, but her friend, who seemed bolder, leaned forward slightly, whispering loudly, “You come here with that guy a lot, right?”

She jerked her thumb towards where Sakura was busy chatting up the meat attendant. Tachibana felt his eyebrow twitch as he watched him. That bastard had to flirt with everyone, didn't he? Even if it was an old man wearing meat-covered plastic gloves. Honestly. 

“I guess,” Tachibana finally said. “Not a lot,” he corrected. “Sometimes.” 

The shy girl looked as if she was going to say something but her friend cut in, “So you can answer our question.” 

“... I guess,” Tachibana said, ambivalent. He was here to vanguard these women from approaching Sakura, not answer damn questions about whatever-the-fuck. He was doing it for their own good! Couldn't they see that? 

“Great, so,” the girl said, taking a deep breath. “You want to introduce us?” 

She introduced their names but Tachibana wasn't listening to them - probably something boring like Keiko or Akiko or whatever - staring at them in utter shock. Were girls _always_ this damn forward? Or just the ones Sakura attracted? At least it reassured him that Sakura wasn't in some kind of massive orgy relationship with everyone in the supermarket. These girls clearly didn’t know him yet. It was a small comfort.

Apparently he took too long to respond because the timid one said, “I- if it isn't too much trouble...”

Fuck, they were wearing schoolgirl outfits, too. Did Sakura really have no shame when it came to who he attracted? And damn it, these girls –Tachibana found himself growing more and more annoyed. Here he was, trying to save them from heartache and being used, and all they could think about was undressing Sakura. Good luck with that, too, considering that his jeans were practically painted onto his skin for how tight they were. This was starting to get old really fast and he was losing patience. 

“Look,” Tachibana gritted out, slowly, fists clenching in the pockets of his jackets. “Don't waste your time with that jerk.” 

The girls looked shocked, glancing at each other, over at Sakura, and then back to Tachibana. 

“Eh?” 

“He's a womanizer,” Tachibana said, expression darkening by the moment. “He blatantly flirts, makes you feel special, and then he completely, totally ignores you. He'll use you and then throw you away and then that'll be the end of it. He'll never call you again. He'll move on to the next girl and that'll be that. Got it?” 

Perhaps not entirely true - surely he should give Sakura more credit (or maybe that was just what the perverted bastard wanted) - but it was better to just cut it straight and nip this little obsession of these women in the bud. No sense getting caught up in Sakura when he only had time for one particular kind of women (so far as Tachibana knew - perhaps he was having little rendezvous with all kinds of women now!). 

The shy girl flinched a little at Tachibana's harsh words, but he didn't dare back down. He met the bold one's eyes straight-on, just daring her to protest. This was for her own good. He was saving her from heartbreak, after all. She should be thanking him for the insider information. 

Instead, the girl kind of gave him a cold look and then walked away with her friend. Tachibana breathed out a sigh of relief and went back over towards Sakura, pushing against his arm once he was close enough.

“Hurry up. I want to go home.” 

Sakura looked at him and then smiled, his eyes lighting up a little bit as he nodded towards Tachibana. “Sorry for the wait. I'm all ready now.” 

“About damn time,” Tachibana muttered and lead the way to the cashier, who cheerfully bagged their food and gave Sakura some pathetic moon eyes. And Sakura just smiled back like it was no big fucking deal because he was that much of an asshole. He made Sakura carry all the bags of groceries, walking beside him with his hands shoved into his pockets and glaring at the ground. 

Tachibana was in a foul mood the rest of the way home. Because nobody fucking listened to him, that's why. Nobody appreciated his efforts when it came to protecting people from Sakura's insatiable dick. They should be throwing him a fucking parade for all his hard work, but noooo. They were all too busy making stupid goo-goo eyes at Sakura, who was too much of a dense fuck to notice - or so _not_ dense that he just thrilled in the attention.

What a fucking bastard. 

 

\---

 

They were walking home from a recent job, Hana hopping down the steps leading away from the temple. Tachibana stayed close to her, letting Sakura and that stupid freeloader ( _why the fuck was he even here on the job with them anyway?_ ) follow close behind. It was a cold day and Tachibana was already feeling moody, hands shoved into his jacket in an attempt to keep them warm. At least Hana was warm enough, although he had to reach out and grab the back of her coat to keep her from running after an oden cart. 

And that's when he heard the giggling. They were headed towards the subway station to head back home and Tachibana felt his shoulders stiffen as he heard the girlish laughter. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw a group of girls giving Sakura the once over. And what was worse, Sakura was smiling back at them like there was nothing fucking creepy about smiling at high school girls.

Tachibana felt his mood darken tremendously, exponentially, critically. God damn it. The world really was going crazy. Either something was horribly wrong with the population around him and he just never even realized before... or Sakura had somehow gotten some kind of love spell. Which was ridiculous. But clearly so many people finding Sakura attractive was even more ridiculous! 

Hana was looking up at him, concerned, and he tried to school his expression into one of more neutrality. But it was impossible. He caught himself sending dark looks at the girls before he reminded himself that it was all Sakura's fault, and turned to glare at him instead. 

Sakura, dipshit though he might be, noticed the expression. He smiled, looking a little bewildered. “What is it now?” 

“Nothing,” Tachibana snapped out through gritted teeth, his entire expression darkening by the moment.

Sakura, moron extreme though he might be, didn't look convinced. Damn it! 

“Would you keep it in your pants for one damn minute? Don't do stupid shit in front of Hana or that damn freeloader,” Tachibana hissed, giving a dark glance towards the girls who were _still starting straight at Sakura what the flying fuck!_

“... Well,” Sakura said, slowly, clearly thinking Tachibana was deranged when that was _not_ the case. Sakura's perversion was a logical, critical, very legitimate concern! “I'm not... doing anything?” 

“You were smiling at those girls!”

Sakura looked to the girls in question, who all started giggling anew and looking away from him. Tachibana glared. 

Sakura looked back at him, clearly bemused, and probably concerned (damn it!). “I'm not allowed to smile at people?”

“Not when you're wearing tight pants!” Tachibana practically shouted and then clenched his jaw, attempting normalcy and confidence. Sakura listened to what he said. Sakura was a pushover like that, when need be. “So stop looking at other people like that. It's bad enough you have to sleep around with those women, don't be a creep and hit on high school girls.”

“I wasn't,” Sakura protested, rolling his eyes, zipping up his coat further when he felt chilled. “I was _smiling_. I don't know if you've noticed but that's kind of not a weird thing for me.”

“Oh shut up.” Tachibana glared up at him. “And remember what I said.”

“I will, I will. Especially if you're going to start pouting.”

“I'm _not_ pouting,” Tachibana muttered darkly. Sakura shrugged his shoulders, walking away to catch up with Hana, who was eyeing the food booths further down the street. Tachibana watched them go, glaring after them. 

And then he heard the girls talking to themselves. “He really is so cool! You don't see people like that everyday...”

“I wonder if he has a girlfriend...?”

Now Tachibana was annoyed. His hands fisted inside his jacket. What the hell was wrong with humanity nowadays? Then again, those girls had given him the perfect opening, the perfect, most spectacular way to shut this ridiculousness down right away. 

He whipped around and said, loudly, “He _does_ have someone. He's deeply, deeply in love and nothing anyone does is going to change his mind on that. He’s totally and completely smitten, and happy, and in love! So stop staring at him like that because he is not interested. And you're not his type, anyway.” 

The girls stood, staring at him in shock, taken aback. Even Tachibana was kind of taken aback by the strength and venom of his words. But it was for the best. It didn't do those girls any good to have a crush on Sakura, after all. And it definitely was better to just give them that white lie. Easier to assume the guy was taken. 

The girls were still staring and Tachibana's face began to turn red. “W- what?” 

“... Nothing,” one of the girls muttered, still giving him a weird look. 

And then they walked quickly away. 

Tachibana scoffed, but felt vindicated. Good. That settled that.

When he turned around again, the stupid freeloader was standing there and giving him the same kind of look. Bewildered, surprised, perhaps a little concerned. 

Tachibana glared. “ _What?_ “ 

“N- nothing!” the stupid freeloader chirped, looking around wildly. 

“Then stop gaping at me like a stupid fish already,” Tachibana muttered, burrowing more into his jacket and glaring at the ground. 

He hated today. 

 

\---

 

He grumbled to himself as he marched down the road leading to Sakura's usual brothel. The stupid fucking asshole had promised he'd keep his cell phone near him while he slept, and yet he wasn't picking up his phone. Either the battery had died without him realizing, the idiot was too busy fucking some pretty woman to hear the ringtone over the sound of moaning... or he was in serious trouble. Part of Tachibana hoped it was the last option, and indeed he was walking a little faster than he normally would. If only because he didn't want to think about Sakura having sex with someone because ew why, and he also didn't want to admit that the guy was SO much of an idiot that he'd actually forget his phone charger. 

When he got to the building, he stared up at the little balcony Sakura usually hung out on after the fact - and found he wasn't there. The door and window were shut. Tachibana felt his expression darken. He hadn't felt any areas being enclosed in the neighborhood, so unlikely that the idiot was lying dead somewhere. Which even Tachibana could admit was a relief. Still. That left the fact that he was either sleeping, or otherwise preoccupied. 

He glared up at the balcony, as if expecting Sakura to sense he was there. 

“... This is ridiculous,” he muttered to himself, turning away. They had a job to do, but if Sakura was sleeping, or... whatever else... he didn't want to disturb him. It should be enough that he and Hana would go. They didn't necessarily need Sakura. 

But as he was walking away, he heard the little window open and a voice call out, “Tachibana?” 

Tachibana stopped, and turned around, looking up to see Sakura watching him, yawning a little. His hair was a mess and he had a flowered kimono draped over his shoulders. He looked—

Ridiculous. 

Ridiculous, perverted _idiot._

Tachibana crossed his arms, glaring up at him. “What?”

“What do you mean 'what'? What're you doing here?” Sakura said around a yawn, leaning over the railing of the balcony and smiling down at him. “Why not just call?” 

“You weren't answering your phone, you idiot,” Tachibana snapped. “We have a job to do. But I wasn't going to wake you up with you were sleeping or—”

Whatever Tachibana was about to say after that died in his throat as another figure joined Sakura out on the balcony, her face elegant, hair spilling over one shoulder. She was beautiful. Even Tachibana could tell as much, and he wasn't usually one to notice or care about such things.

“Friend of yours?” she asked Sakura, smiling at him.

He smiled back, expression warm as he tucked some hair behind her ear and said something to her that Tachibana didn't quite catch.

Tachibana glared. He couldn't help it. He felt a rage sweep over his entire body as he glared up at the two of them. Didn't Sakura have any shame at all? It didn't matter if he was in a goddamn brothel; have some restraint when he was out in public—! 

But he was being ridiculous. This wasn’t some innocent, unknowing girl falling for Sakura’s supposed charms. This was a geisha, someone who knew exactly what she was doing and what Sakura was there for. He had no need to be angry at Sakura, or anything like that.

And yet he couldn’t stop his dark mood. He looked away, glaring at nothing. What the hell? 

He tried to steady his breathing, tried to calm down. But he couldn’t. His anger was boiling over. He was so angry and disgusted and frustrated — and he didn’t even know why. 

“I’ll be down in a minute,” Sakura called to him, but Tachibana was only half-listening, having to look away from those simple touches. It was hardly obscene at all. It was gentle—the way he touched her hair, his hand brushed down her shoulder, the way he smiled at her. Tachibana glared down at the ground. 

It was ridiculous.

What was more ridiculous was Tachibana’s reaction to it, though. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Whatever. Hurry up,” Tachibana muttered but when he looked up at the balcony again, Sakura and the woman were already gone. 

A few minutes later, Sakura left the building and stood beside him, reaching out to touch his shoulder in greeting when Tachibana didn’t lift his head to look at him.

“Hey,” he said, his voice soft, concerned. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m just tired,” Tachibana muttered. “A certain idiot made me walk all the way down here.”

“Sorry,” Sakura said, and meant it. Tachibana scoffed. Sakura shook his head. “You know I hate to have you worry. I should have brought my phone charger with me.” 

“Whatever. Let’s just go,” Tachibana snapped.

The two started walking, Tachibana’s hands buried deep into his pockets, staring at the ground, hyper-aware of Sakura’s presence beside him, the warmth radiating from his body, the way his arm would brush against his as they walked. Did he have to walk so close? 

He glanced up at Sakura, but he was looking straight ahead, smiling a little – looking rested. At least he could sleep, Tachibana thought – there was a benefit to seeing those women, then. He felt his expression relax just slightly. What was he doing being a jerk about the brothel women Sakura slept with? Sure, he had sex… but at least he could get a decent night sleep out of it, too. That was the most important. 

He just didn’t see why Sakura couldn’t find that body warmth from someone else. Not that anyone else was suitable. At least the geisha women knew he was a pervert. The random women in the stores and on the streets were one thing, sure, and Tachibana certainly was doing a good thing to warn them against Sakura’s perversions. But the entire point of the geisha was so Sakura could sleep at night, get some rest. Tachibana shouldn’t begrudge Sakura the chance to actually rest. 

He hated this.

Why did Sakura have to be such a bastard? 

 

\---

 

“You’re glaring at those women,” Sakura said a few days later.

“What?” 

“You’re glaring,” Sakura repeated, looking concerned (as always, that bastard), and nodding a bit towards the group of women who were looking their way. “You’re glaring at them. Did they do something?”

“… No,” Tachibana muttered, looking away and glancing at Sakura. He glared at him instead. “They were staring at you.”

“So?” Sakura asked, shrugging. “They were looking at you, too.”

Tachibana glared more. “They weren’t.” 

“Well, maybe they were before. But then you started glaring at them,” Sakura said with a laugh. 

“Can we just go already?” Tachibana muttered, stomping away down the street. Sakura followed him, of course, his stride larger than Tachibana’s, so he caught up easily. He reached out and grabbed his elbow, gently, tugging back. 

“Relax,” Sakura said. He smiled at him. “I was just teasing… although you _were_ glaring.”

“Shut up.”

“And now you’re glaring at me,” Sakura said, his expression and tone far too warm for such a fact. Tachibana glared harder. Sakura just smiled more. “All is right in the world, now.”

It wasn’t. All was definitely not all right in the world. Especially now. Tachibana felt overwhelmed – uncertain. What could he do? Why did he keep feeling this way? Why did seeing any woman looking at Sakura fill him with such a white-hot rage? Could it really be on their behalf, being concerned that Sakura would take advantage of them?

He didn’t want to think about what it meant if that wasn’t the case. He refused. Obviously that was the reason. Sakura was a perverted womanizer who was obsessed with sex. He was probably thinking about sex right now. He was probably imagining turning around and taking one or some of those women into a back alley and having his wicked way with them. Tachibana bit back a groan – a frustrated one! – at the mere thought. Why was he thinking about that?

No. All was not right in the world.

 

\---

 

The last straw came a few weeks later. They were on their way back from a job, as usual, and Sakura had sent Hana off ahead with that freeloader to find some noodles. It was a warm spring day and Sakura was wearing another one of his stupid, tight shirts and tight pants, smiling cheerfully and looking just as dumb as he always looked. 

Tachibana looked away and shoved his own jacket at him. “Carry it.”

Sakura laughed, tucking Tachibana’s jacket, along with his own discarded jacket, over his arm and carrying them. He reached out, gently brushing his fingers down over the side of Tachibana’s hair, straightening it for him. 

Tachibana, despite his best efforts, blushed. He glared at him. “What the hell?”

“Nothing,” Sakura said with a laugh. 

They resumed walking. 

It was setting out to be another afternoon, free of Tachibana’s constant bombardment of frustrations. And then he heard the giggling. _Again._

He grit his teeth, doing his best to ignore it, doing his best to remain calm. But everywhere he looked, there was a girl making goo-goo eyes at Sakura as if he were the most attractive fucking bastard in the entire world and he _wasn’t_. Damn it all. 

And Sakura was smiling his stupid, stupid smile of his. Ridiculously stupid smile. Why did the asshole have to smile so often? Why was he always smiling at those girls? He shouldn’t be smiling at those girls. He should be smiling at—

Tachibana froze in his step, eyes widening. 

_He should be smiling at only me._

Sakura, stupid dumbfuck that he was, bumped into him when Tachibana stopped so abruptly. 

“Oof,” he said, and then laughed. “Hey. Everything okay?”

But Tachibana wasn’t listening. He was staring at the ground, his entire face burning bright red, his eyes widened. Oh god. 

_Oh god._

“What the fuck,” he muttered.

“Hm?” Sakura asked, leaning down to peer at Tachibana’s face, frowning at the blush and the look of utter and dumbfuckery shock on Tachibana’s face. “You okay?”

“Shut up,” Tachibana said, weakly, pushing against Sakura’s arm without any real strength. Sakura shrugged, a hand straying to his back, pushing just a little, as if to get him to start walking again – but it was entirely too distracting, to feel Sakura’s hand on him. He clenched his eyes shut, breathing out sharply. 

_What the fuck._

He looked at Sakura, helpless for half a moment, before he remembered himself and glared. “I want something to drink. Get me water.”

Sakura rolled his eyes a little but nodded. “Sure, sure. Wait here.” 

He ambled off towards one of the street vendors, seeking out some water for him. Tachibana crossed his arms, still feeling vaguely horrified and unsure if he wanted to dissect his newly discovered realizations. Fuck. 

He was (graciously) interrupted from these horrible, disgusting musings because he saw a cluster of girls wandering over towards Sakura’s general direction. Tachibana felt the white hot spike of rage, his hands clenching into fists. And before he could quite stop himself, he was stomping over, intercepting their direction, blocking their way. A few of them blinked in surprise as a glaring man stomped his way towards them. 

“Don’t even think about it,” he snapped out, his entire body shaking – mostly frustration at himself and, distantly, he knew he was taking it out on these girls here, but he also didn’t care enough to stop. “Don’t even fucking think about talking to him for even one moment. He isn’t interested. He isn’t available. He isn’t yours to talk to. You can just turn around and walk in the other direction because he doesn’t have time for you. He’s not available and he’s totally and completely in love with someone else and in a really happy relationship so he’s just _not interested._ So don’t even think about it.” 

They stared at him, wide-eyed, completely and totally unprepared for such a venomous confrontation. Tachibana felt his hands shaking and he continued to glare until, finally, one by one, the girls broke eye contact and quickly walked away, glancing over their shoulders at him in perfect fear. 

Tachibana felt like a dick, but, at the same time, strangely vindicated. Yeah, that’s right. He’d protected them – or, well. He’d protected his own interests, which was more likely. 

And then he turned around and Sakura was standing right there, cold bottle of water in his hand and a strange look on his face. 

_Shit!_

“Um,” he said, intelligently. 

Sakura didn’t say a word. He just looked at him for a moment, expression strained and difficult to read, and then he reached out, grabbing Tachibana by the wrist and tugging. He turned, started walking, dragging Tachibana with him without a word. Too mortified and disconcerted by the sudden touch, Tachibana didn’t put up any protest and just allowed himself to be dragged away. He had no idea where they were going. He had no idea if Sakura was going to _fucking say anything already, god damn it._ He just followed in silence, feeling like his head was going to explode or the ground was going to swallow him up. One of those things. 

Sakura led him to a relatively quiet side street, dropping his wrist abruptly and turning around, frowning. “What the hell was that?”

“What was what?” Tachibana muttered, then snatched the bottle of water from Sakura, twisted the cap, and chugged down a long gulp of water. Or a few gulps of water. Or maybe almost the entire bottle. He clenched his eyes shut, refusing to meet Sakura’s gaze. The guy wanted an explanation and Tachibana absol-fucking-lutely did NOT have an explanation to give. 

“You know what,” Sakura said, sounding annoyed – which was always enough to get Tachibana to actually stop being dumb about things. It was a rare day when Sakura was actually annoyed enough for it to show on his face or in his tone. Tachibana sighed, lowering the water bottle and chancing a glance at Sakura, who stared at him – calmer now, not necessarily annoyed. 

“Hrm,” was Tachibana’s intelligent reply. Fuck! 

Sakura scratched at the back of his head for a moment, frowning. “It’s not really like you to shout at a bunch of strangers. You usually reserve that for me or Chika-chan.”

“Shut up,” was Tachibana’s additionally intelligent reply. God damn it! 

“Hey…” he sounded softer now, which was by far the worst. Stupid bastard, he didn’t need pity or whatever. 

“What,” Tachibana muttered, staring at the ground now, his entire face far beyond red now and approaching a color consistent with purple. 

Sakura reached out and touched his arm. Tachibana didn’t shrug it away. But he didn’t look up at him, either. 

“Look, I know you’ve been doing this for weeks now,” Sakura said, slowly.

That made Tachibana whip his head up and glare. “ _What?_ Doing what? I wasn’t doing anything. I—”

A look from Sakura silenced all other protests. 

“… How the hell did you find out?” 

“Chika-chan mentioned it.”

“That little—!”

“Also Hana.”

“… Oh,” Tachibana muttered, deflating from his self-righteous anger. Well, if even Hana noticed it. 

“Are you going to tell me why?” 

“Mrr,” was Tachibana’s intelligent reply. And then he shook his head, sighing. “I didn’t… I don’t know.”

Sakura nodded, indicating he should keep going. 

Tachibana felt like crawling into a hole and dying a little. Fuck! 

He drank more from his water bottle. He sighed out as he emptied it and thrust it back to Sakura, who obediently took the empty plastic from him. 

“You’re a pervert,” Tachibana settled on, ignoring the way Sakura rolled his eyes. “I didn’t want any of those girls to get their hearts broken. Think about it! You can’t get involved with any old random person! It’s not like I’m not sympathetic to you needing to be able to sleep, but damn it, Sakura, it’s not right for you to lead on women like that. Or high school girls!”

Sakura gave him a strange look and then sighed. “Well, yeah. Obviously.”

“Hmph.” 

“So then it’s a good thing that I… don’t?” Sakura said, looking at him strangely still. He shrugged. “Women check me out. I can’t help that. But I have something called self-control? It’s not like any woman I look at is guaranteed to end up in my bed, you know.” 

“And men,” Tachibana muttered.

Sakura’s lips twitched up into a ghost of a smile. “Or men.” 

“Yeah, well,” Tachibana mumbled, feeling increasingly more foolish. Where the hell did this bastard get off being reasonable and responsible? Damn it! 

“I’m sure they’re all appreciative that you’re taking good care of their hearts, Tachibana,” Sakura said with a small laugh. “But I don’t think yelling at them is the best way to go about that.”

Tachibana looked away, crossing his arms defensively. 

“Would it help you to know I’m not exactly interested in them?” Sakura asked, good-naturedly. 

“Shut up,” Tachibana muttered.

The hand was on his arm again, brushing down to his elbow for a moment – an attempt at soothing, at comfort. It just made Tachibana blush. Sakura smiled at him, tilting his head to the side. “Would it help you to know I have no intention of ‘starting a relationship’, as it were, with anyone uninvolved in all of this?”

Tachibana shrugged. Secretly, yes, he was relieved to hear as much. Maybe. 

The hand lingered on his arm. “It’s really weird to think of you doing something like this, you know.”

“And why is that?” Tachibana mumbled, darkly. 

Sakura shrugged. “From anyone else, I’d just assume it was jealousy. After all, according to you, I’m deeply in love with someone and in a committed relationship, right?”

Tachibana flared up, glaring at him, his face completely red. “That wasn’t—Shut up! Who the fuck would be jealous of you? And anyway, that was just an excuse to get them to leave you alone!” 

“Mmm,” Sakura hummed with a small shrug. “Okay. Whatever you say.” 

The hand dropped away and Tachibana missed its presence at once, much to his chagrin. 

There was a long silence. Sakura didn’t say anything more, but also didn’t make a move to start walking again. Tachibana stared at the ground and then, after the silence stretched on for far too long, glanced up at him again.

“And whatever. What the hell would you even say if… if someone were jealous like that.” 

Yeah, fucking subtle as fuck. He hated himself sometimes. 

Sakura, though, didn’t laugh at him. He just regarded him quietly, lifting his eyebrows up as if Tachibana had just asked the stupidest question in the world (and damn it, it was a dumb question – he felt like a dipshit). But he was smiling a little when he said, “If someone were jealous, I’d tell them that they really don’t have to be. You said it yourself… I’m not interested in any of those girls.”

Tachibana grunted, and looked away again. He was still blushing, but at least he didn’t feel like he was about to keel over from lack of blood in the rest of his body. 

“You’re always flirting,” Tachibana protested, weakly.

“Uh, yeah. It’s kind of what I do.” 

“Well, stop it.” Tachibana knew he was being ridiculous, but he didn’t care. He glared at him. “If you’re not interested in someone, don’t just fucking flirt with them like an idiot.”

Sakura was looking at him strangely again. He tilted his head. “Can I still flirt with you, then?”

“What? Since when do you flirt with me?” Tachibana balked. 

“Since always?” Sakura said, and then laughed at Tachibana’s startled expression. 

Tachibana grumbled quietly to himself, glaring at the ground and then glaring at Sakura for good measure, who just smiled at him – softer than before now, just watching him with a gentle expression. Which was weird. Although now that he thought about it, Sakura often looked at him like that.

Well, shit. 

“… What the hell.”

“Figure it out already,” Sakura said, chastising, but still smiling. Tachibana almost snapped at him but then felt better of it, looking away and dropping his arms to his side.

“… Maybe I was jealous.” 

“Yeah, I kind of figured that out already.”

“Shut up!” 

Sakura just laughed, and reached out, taking his hand in his. Tachibana stoically accepted this and in no way, shape, or form started blushing even more than before. Sakura was just smiling at him like the big stupid fool he was but then again maybe Tachibana was an even bigger, stupider fool for not realizing that Sakura had always looked at him like that—

Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember a time when Sakura didn’t smile at him or, in the case of this stupid dumbass, flirted like a moron. 

“Hmph,” Tachibana huffed, looking away. 

“So I’ll say it again. You don’t have to be jealous. I’m not interested in them.” 

“Except geisha.” 

Sakura shrugged. “You’d freak out if I asked to sleep with you.”

Tachibana tilted his chin up defiantly and glared at him. “Don’t just fucking assume something like that, asshole. Like I want you sleeping around with random women.” 

Sakura laughed. “So demanding.”

“Tch,” Tachibana scoffed. He quickly looked around the empty side-street, reached up, and grabbed Sakura’s shirt by the collar, tugging him down and kissing him, defiantly. With only relative skill because he wasn’t a fucking pervert like Sakura so what the fuck was he supposed to know about kissing or anything like that. Sakura, pervert that he was, didn’t complain when Tachibana pulled away – instead, he was just grinning at him. Tachibana tilted his chin up, letting his glare relax for half a moment when he said, “From now on, it’s just me.”

“Okay.” 

So quick to agree. Tachibana would have been annoyed if it weren’t in his favor. He scoffed again, tugged on Sakura’s hand, and started leading the way back to wherever Hana and that damn freeloader were. He let go of his hand as they approached the busy main street again, but Sakura stood closer to him than before. 

Maybe he got it after all, why so many people seemed charmed by Sakura. Not that he himself was charmed. It just suited his purposes for Sakura to be his. 

That was all.


End file.
